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16th September 2014 • Volume 21, Issue 33 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. • Tel: 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie
Major Worries Over Hospital Accessibility Beaumont Hospital, which is the hospital of choice for the vast majority of North County residents, has been described as “currently unsafe”. This statement was made by no less a person that it’s chief executive, Liam Duffy, who was quoted in a recent article in a Sunday newspaper.
By Patrick Finnegan This revelation will be seen as a major source of concern for many local residents, who use Beaumont Hospital in cases of emergency and for other medical requirements. Mr Duffy is quoted as saying that “there were 58 patients in the emergency department on one particular day, and that one patient had waited for 44 hours, before being discharged”. Duffy wrote to staff members on 28th August last, telling them that the capacity in Beaumont was “unsafe”. He said, “it was imperative in the interest of Beaumont Hospital Chief the safety of all Executive, Liam Duffy patients, that the hospital regain stability as a matter of urgency.” This startling news will add to fears, particularly when these concerns are raised by hospital doctors. In light of this, the County Leader sought to get more information from the hospital, in a bid to clarify the situation there. A formal statement was received by us which said, “Beaumont Hospital manages bed capacity for unscheduled and scheduled care on a constant and ongoing basis. If and when a significant capacity constraint arises, the situation is typically escalated to all consultants to highlight the issue and to request their immediate intervention and assistance in expediting the discharge of any suitable patients. That is how the Hospital manages its resources responsibly, and appropriately to deal with the demands placed on it at different times.”
“By way of background, the email (sent by Mr Duffy), related to an exceptionally busy day for the hospital at the end of August, both in the Emergency Department, as well as other demands for beds. The situation has stabilised since that day,” the statement ended. The statement that this was a spike in the figures on a particular day, we would suggest that there have been many such days. The County Leader keeps a watchful eye on the daily trolley watch figures, which are provided by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). These figures reveal that Beaumont Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, which are the principal hospitals for the North County region, depending on where you live, are two of the worst performers in this regard, on a regular basis. The daily figures for Beaumont rarely drop below 20, and are regularly in the 30’s. This, for many locals, is not good enough, and a solution is urgently needed. Official figures recorded 2,433 patients on trolleys at Beaumont Hospital last year. This figure is higher than any other hospital in the country. There had been great expectations among locals, that when local politician, Dr James Reilly was chosen as Minister for Health, that there would be a discernible improvement in health services. This includes the numbers on trolleys in emergency departments in hospitals in our local area, in particular. While it must be said that these figures improved somewhat during Dr Reilly’s tenure, the same disturbing pattern is still there. In the meantime, the new Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar is another local man, but, as yet there has been no improvement in the capacity problems in our local hospitals, which is the main contributor to safety concerns. The article maintains that it is not unusual for hospital management to alert staff to capacity issues, but they say it is highly unusual to have a hospital described as unsafe, particularly by it’s chief executive.
North County Leader Newspaper are delighted to announce that they will once again be a sponsor in the upcoming Fingal Dublin Business Excellence & Corporate Responsibility Awards. They are a former winner in the awards ceremony. Pictured at the launch of the Awards, are Tony Lambert (CEO Fingal Dublin Chamber), Siobhan Kinsella (President Fingal Dublin Chamber), Sean Fitzmaurice (Director, North County Leader) and Sue Griffiths (Sales Manager, North County Leader)
“Dublin Airport Now Eating Heathrow’s Lunch” Airport is in the top tier of European airports when it comes to flights to North America,” Mr Toland said. Dublin is also now ranked 7th in Europe as a hub for transatlantic passengers ahead of much bigger airports such as Istanbul, The failure of London mayor, Boris Johnson to Brussels and Gatwick. Dublin offers 134 push through a controversial €126 direct return flights a week to million airport plan, gives Dublin North America. Only the biggest Airport’s growing status as a European hubs, Heathrow, Paris transatlantic hub, a tremendous Charles De Gaulle, Frankfurt, boost. Siobhan O’Donnell, DAA Amsterdam, Madrid and Rome Head of External Communications currently offer more frequent told the County Leader about this services. rare opportunity for the airport. “We This trend has provoked a are very focused on transfer traffic comment from a leading British from the UK. It’s one of our main newspaper to say, priorities. Last year, we had 550,000 “Dublin Airport is mopping up busitransfer passengers, which was an ness from passengers in Scotland increase of 36 per cent, and we want DAA Chief Executive, and the north of England who want Kevin Toland to grow this,” she said. to avoid flying via Heathrow and As congestion at London airports other European hub airports to the US, grows, flying directly west to transfer to according to Aer Lingus. It concluded by Dublin’s booming transatlantic services, is saying, “Dublin Airport is now eating becoming an an attractive alternative for UK Heathrow’s lunch.” travellers, with the result that Dublin Airport now has more transatlantic flights than Gatwick, Manchester or Munich airports - a staggering statistic, that is bound to give a great boost to the local economy. This trend is causing concern in the UK, as their long held position as a centre of aviation connectivity may be under threat. DAA Chief Executive, Kevin Toland said, “Dublin Airport is becoming a significant hub for international transfer traffic. The double digit increases we have had in transatlantic connectivity over the past two years, means that for the first time Dublin See page 18
A unique opportunity has fallen the way of Dublin Airport, as capacity problems at British airports, are set to provide the airport with a golden opportunity to become an even larger transatlantic hub.
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